Tommy looked down at Lil. She had fallen asleep. He moved his hand and
gently caressed the side of her face, wiping away the remaining tears. It
had been an hour since he had first come out to find her, and only a half
an hour since she had fallen asleep. Tommy was always known as the brave
one. He was hardly scared of anything. He was always the first one to say
'Let's do it!' and he was always the last one to jump at any horror film.
But what he had just witnessed was more terrifying than any horror film he
had ever watched. Tommy had never seen Lil that way before, and it really
did scare him. Lil was always outgoing and bubbly. She had a personality
that, if you just met her, you had to fall in love with her. Sure, she was
on the cheerleading squad and she was one of the most popular girls in
school, but she was also very kind and sweet. That's what made everybody
love her so much. In all the years that Tommy had know Lil, he had never
known this side of her, and honestly, he really didn't want to.
"Yo, Tommy." Phil said, sticking his head into the porch area.
Tommy looked up at him.
"Um, we're going to open presents in, like, five minutes."
Tommy nodded. Phil looked down at his sister and then made his way over to
Tommy.
He sat down on the wooden chair across from where Tommy was holding Lil.
"Dude," he said, resting his head in his hands. "Lil has been acting weird
for a while now. I'm her twin. We always share everything together and I
don't even know what's wrong with her."
"I know what you mean, Phil. I've never seen her this way before. I really
wish she would just tell me what was wrong. I mean, she always comes to me
with her problems."
"Yeah, and that's why our relationship has gotten so distant lately!" Phil
stood up.
"She's always running to you for advice or support or just to talk to! You
know, before you two got so close, she used to come to me for that kind of
stuff! Thanks to you, I feel like I've lost my sister, which is a big part
of me!"
Tommy was shocked. He wouldn't have imagined Phil getting so defensive like
that.
"Y'know, Phil, maybe if you had spent less time with Kimi over the past
months, Lil would have thought that you actually had time to talk with her.
Maybe if you had paid more attention to her, and less attention to your new
love interest, then maybe you would still have a close relationship with
your sister!" Tommy shot back, just as aggressively.
"Don't you dare blame this on me, Tommy! If you hadn't turned Kimi down
when she expressed her feelings for you, then maybe we wouldn't be having
this conversation right now! She's the one who came crying to me because
you told her that you had feelings for someone else and you would never be
able to like her more than just a friend. So tell me this Tommy. Answer me
this one question. Who's the someone else? Huh? If you were so intent on
blowing off Kimi for some other girl, tell me who it is."
Tommy stared hard into Phil's eyes and Phil stared just as hard into
Tommy's.
Tommy had no doubt in his mind that Phil knew who it was who he held
feelings for. Phil knew. He was just challenging Tommy. Seeing if he would
crack.
"You know who it is, Phil." Tommy said quietly, diverting his attention
from Phil to the outdoors.
"No, Tommy. I don't think I do. Why don't you tell me?"
Tommy looked back at Phil with dark, fierce eyes.
Lil started to stir. Her eyelids slowly opened.
"Hey." She said softly.
She looked from Tommy to Phil and then back to Tommy.
"What's going on?" She asked.
"Nothing." Phil told her, never taking his eyes off of Tommy.
"Lil, it's time to open our presents. C'mon."
Phil left it at that and walked out of the room, giving Tommy one last
glare.
Lil sat up, giving Tommy room to get up himself. He stood up and offered
Lil his hand up, but she ignored it and got up herself. She wasn't a baby
and didn't need anybody's help.
Tommy and Lil made their way out of the porch and to the living room, where
everybody was waiting for them.
